Robots find Barrier Reef coral at extreme depths, amazing ocean scientists
Living coral found at 125 metres, four times deeper than scuba limit
Sunday 6 January 2013
Robots have found living coral on the Great Barrier Reef at a depth four times greater than most scuba divers can reach and far beyond the depth at which scientists expected to find them.
A team from the Catlin Seaview Survey discovered the reef corals living at 125 metres, the deepest ever found on the reef. Reef corals are in a perilous state around the world, under threat from climate change through warming oceans and acidification of seawater as well as by coastal pollution and unsustainable fishing practices. The remarkable find was made on the outer edge of the Ribbon Reefs off the north of the Barrier. The extreme depth is more than four times the depth of the shallow reef coral habitat (0-30m) which most scuba divers can reach.
Dr Pim Bongaerts from the Global Change Institute at Queensland University, who led the expedition's deep reef team, said: "It's intriguing. When we began our survey, we were amazed to see significant coral at depths of around 60 metres. However, it is truly mind-blowing to see reef coral at more than twice that depth.
"We found the plating Leptoseris corals at a depth of 125 metres. Although the corals are small and at such depth only consists of few species, it shows that there are viable communities living down there. The corals were attached to the rock surface and were certainly not individual corals which have fallen down to this depth. The discovery shows that there are coral communities on the reef existing at considerably greater depths than we could ever have imagined."
Scientists discover deepest coral reefs off Britain
The deepest coral reefs off the coast of Britain have been explored for the first time revealing ancient coral, colourful fish, deepwater sharks and even species that were previously unknown to science.
The five cold-water coral reefs were found by scientists monitoring an underwater mountain range 200 miles off the coast of North West Scotland last month.
The reefs are more than a mile under the ocean in dark, cold waters but boast a wealth of marine life. By sending hi-tech cameras thousands of feet under the water scientists were able to study coral similar to those that built Australia's Great Barrier Reef, star fish, sea urchins, sponges and strange deepwater fish.
The team of researchers now have 3,000 photographs and 50 hours of film taken by the cameras and think there could even be new species lurking in the depths.
Coral Reef Off Florida Determined to be Deepest Known on U.S. Continental Shelf
February 2005
Consultation with colleagues at numerous national meetings has helped a team of scientists determine that a coral reef off the southwest coast of Florida is the deepest ever found on the U.S. continental shelf. Scientists and graduate students from the University of South Florida (USF) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) discovered the deep coral reef and diverse fish populations while conducting collaborative research west of the Dry Tortugas in 1999. USGS marine geologist Robert Halley was on the team that made the discovery.
"Although deeper-water corals form reefs in the dark of ocean depths, [the reef at] Pulley Ridge is the deepest photosynthetic coral reef that we know of today," said Halley. The reef lies in approximately 250 ft of water off the coast of southwest Florida on a series of drowned barrier islands collectively named Pulley Ridge. A long, north-trending feature, Pulley Ridge was originally discovered in 1950 when an academic group from Texas conducted dredging and hauled in mollusks. The ridge hosts the unusually deep photosynthetic-coral reef on its southern section. The deep coral reef is 20 mi long and 3 mi across at its widest point and covers an island that was submerged 13,000 years ago. It is a significant discovery that may be unique.
